Reviews and Comments

A very engaging and well-written book that's part dystopian novel and part YA thriller, with some magical realism and a little humor thrown in as well. I really enjoyed the folklore aspects of the story and the relationship between the great protagonist, Sil, and her mother.

I decided to read this after seeing Anne Tyler's recent interview in The Guardian, where she said: “How we handle day-to-day life as we go through it, with its disappointments and its pleasures, that’s all I want to know.” But also, she's already working on her next novel, and apparently she's done with trying to avoid politics in her books: "It seemed so wrong to have any character going about normal life after that horrendous election." Can't wait to see what she comes up with.

As for Three Days in June, it's Tyler's usual bittersweet and amusing focus on a semi-dysfunctional white family, this time in the context of a wedding. Anyway, what can I say? I'm a fan.

It's well-written, and Wash's journeys (both physical and psychological) are engaging for the most part, but overall I felt a bit disappointed. I think my expectations were probably too high due to some of the rave reviews.

OK, I was pretty annoyed by the ending. Also, there was some stereotyping that I could have done without, and some parts were a bit clunky. Overall, though, this was a very engaging reading experience. I liked the multiple perspectives and the jumping between Chicagoland and French Polynesia. There were some remarkable scenes, especially on Makatea and in the water during Evie's dives. The parts focused on the manta rays and other marine life really conveyed a sense of wonder. There was a chapter about half-way through the book when it shifted to the perspective of "the Queen" as she made her way around Makatea, talking to various people, thinking about the past, recalling songs and stories, and I enjoyed that. It's an ambitious book (tackling so many issues concerning the ocean, AI, pollution, science, sexism, art, democracy, "play," colonization, memory, etc.), and I guess for me it mostly succeeded despite its flaws.

One of my favorite reads of 2024. So good in every respect ... and just great storytelling overall. It made me glad that I've spent time in Duluth and other places around Lake Superior, including the Apostle Islands. The audiobook narration by David Aaron Baker was excellent as well.

I had been meaning to read this for a while, but it took on greater urgency after the 2024 election. It's an eye-opening book that provides essential historical context and important insights into how tyrants rise to power. Since this is the graphic edition, there's a note at the end by the illustrator, Nora Krug, explaining some the choices she made with the artwork ... very interesting.

OK, wow (4.5 stars). This was very good, but it was unsettling from the start, pushing my anxiety buttons in an impressive way. I saw the mostly rave reviews on Bookmarks but didn't read any of them, so I went into the book not knowing much about it and maybe that added to the suspense. Thoughtful and quirky, with some interesting observations about parenting, technology, consumerism, etc.

Well-written and exciting, with a good sense of humor. I enjoyed the magical archipelago setting. It has a familiar fantasy story arc - i.e., a young "chosen" protagonist goes on a quest to fight against evil with the help of some friends and protectors (to some extent, it reminded me of both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings) - but it's inventive enough to stand out in its own right. I wouldn't mind having one of those flying coats. My favorite part was the scene where they meet the jaculus dragon. I definitely saw parallels to our climate change reality, e.g. government dragging its feet in the face of catastrophic changes in the sea, so I appreciated that.

Excellent writing, of course, plus biting humor and a fun story (it's especially enjoyable having Jason Isaacs narrate the audiobook). There are so many great touches beyond the art theft/murder mystery plot itself, like the women's voices that Jackson has internalized; when that "Court of Women" cocked its collective eyebrow at one of his questionable notions, causing him to pause and reframe his thinking, I laughed out loud. I was very fond of some of the other characters, too, including Ben (Kindness to others, his greatest failing in his own eyes, forced him to put on a brave face) and also Simon the vicar, who is made fun of (paddling in the intellectual shallows) but also portrayed quite sympathetically - I really enjoyed his memory of trying to go on a pilgrimage and ending up with a group of Texas students who knew the Scriptures better than he did (don't miss Jason Isaacs doing the Texas accent!).

I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller (although it's not the "action-packed" type) set in rural France and focused on a commune known as Le Moulin. The espionage plot provides a framework for the cold-hearted protagonist (assumed name: Sadie Smith) and certain others (primarily Bruno Lacombe, via his intercepted emails to the Moulinards) to make proclamations and observations about various aspects of life, such as art, political activism, self-identity, oppression, Neanderthals, and the night sky.

There are many indelible scenes and stories within the story - e.g., Bruno's memory of playing with other boys and taking the helmet of a dead Nazi soldier they came across; Sadie observing the sexist division of labor in the commune; the history of the Cagot; Bruno hearing voices in his cave; and a seafaring tale about an 18th-century Polynesian.

Here's just one of many passages that made an impression on me: "When you look at stars, Bruno said, you merge into the flow of time, the right-now and the before and the to-come." Actually, I thought some of the writing about the stars connected well to Samantha Harvey's Orbital, which I read recently.

Usually I try to avoid audiobooks narrated by the author, but I'm glad I listened to this one. Kushner's straightforward delivery works perfectly with the book's dry humor.

Mandel's writing is excellent and unpretentious, as usual. It's a great story with thriller elements and characters who find themselves falling into desperate situations. There are lots of keen observations about people's relationships, hopes, disappointments, foibles, and sense of morality. Despite the seriousness of the topics touched on (housing crisis, habitat encroachment, crime, etc.), there's a low-key sense of humor, at least in the first half of the book, like when Gavin is troubled by the abbreviation/acronym on his sister's business card, feeling that there's a letter missing (another example: when he visits his mother and then considers climbing out the bathroom window to avoid further conversation). I also really enjoyed the focus on music.

A solid, well-written mystery with a great protagonist (the extremely analytical Mia). It grabbed me right away. There were a few holes in the plot early on, but those didn't bother or distract me too much. Also, the happiness quotient concept is interesting, but after a while I felt like it was being a bit overexplained. Overall, though, I enjoyed it a lot, and I thought the audiobook narration by Shannon Tyo was very good.

This little book pretty much blew me away, with its poetic and beautifully-written ruminations on life, space, and the Earth, featuring six astronauts/cosmonauts on the space station. There were many sections that changed or expanded my perspective on things. It definitely called to mind the Pale Blue Dot. It's not flawless - for example, there were a few times when it felt perhaps a bit too sentimental, and I'm not sure why it referred to "mankind" rather than "humankind" through most of the novel (also, an early description of the Japanese astronaut as being "not-quite definable" veered a little too close to the "inscrutable" trope, I thought). Overall, though, it was extremely well done.